| The Courage To Heal |
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Many websites discuss "The Courage to Heal," although views on the book are generally polarised – people either being firmly in the "Survivors" camp, or firmly in the False Memory Syndrome camp. While the book has its devotees, many mainstream Mental Health prefessionals have charged Bass and Davis with perpetuating various errors and unproven theraputic methods. OVERVIEW The book has been issued in several editions, and has reportedly sold hundreds of thousands of copies. The most recent edition, at the time this article was written, has the book divided into the following sections: # Taking Stock # The Healing Process # Changing Patterns # For Supporters of Survivors # Courageous Women # Honouring the Truth: A Response to the Backlash. (The sixth section was added to respond to negative reactions to previous editions, notably the book's lack of questioning of the authenticity of memories recovered during therapy.) The book actively promotes recovery of , Anxiety , sadness, listlessness, or any number physical maladies from the minor to the chronic. SUPPORTERS' VIEW Supporters of the book argue that Child Abuse is a wide-spread phenomena that often leaves little evidence, especially twenty years after the crime. Bass and Davis write that "demands for proof than memory are unreasonable" (p. 137). They further contend that in order for Child Abuse to occur the father (almost invarably the abuser, according to Bass and Davis) must be amoral enough to commit it, and the mother without the resolve to stop it, one cannot expect either of them to concede that abuse occurred when they are confronted with such accusations later in life. Furthermore, according to Bass and Davis, support for the victim (often referred to as a 'survivor' to put things in a positive light) should be considered paramount, rather than attempting to deny, question, Cover Up or ignore the "family secret". In this instance, supporting the abuser is offensive and hurtful – the survivor has enough problems to deal with already without further isolation, disbelief and demands for evidence. Survivors say that people can confuse symptoms of child sexual abuse, such as Depression and emotive behaviour, as signs the victim is an unreliable witness. CRITICS' VIEW Though critics recognize that child sexual abuse is a tragically common occurence, and that there are genuine instances of reliable Repressed Memory , many critics contend that ''The Courage to Heal'' is rife with errors, misconceptions and bad advice. Critics note that Bass and Davis have no formal training in Psychiatry or Psychology , and contend that the book dangerously encourages Confabulation and/or the creation of False Memory , with the book ignoring the need for uncovered memories to be substantiated. Crits suggest that ''The Courage to Heal'' has caused widespread harm to many innocent people - including those unjustly accused of sexual abuse, but also the accusers, who become heavily traumatised by false revelations, and who may neglect treatment for genuine problems while persuing the paths suggested by Bass and Davis. The book asserts that if one recovers memories of . Whether or not ''The Courage to Heal'' has helped people deal with the affects of Child Abuse , it is worth noting that the spontaneous recovery of memories of childhood trauma seems itself to damage and traumatise the survivor. Critics postulate that the supposed healing that memory recovery is meant to provide never eventuates, and that people get stuck in costly therapy. A famous example of a debunked account of Satanic Ritual Abuse occured around the book '' Michelle Remembers ''. According to www.StopBadTherapy.com "'The Courage to Heal' has been implicated in over half the cases of False Memory Syndrome reported to The False Memory Syndrome Foundation in Philadelphia." This same website site lists a number of Rectractor testimonials related to the book. EXTERNAL LINKS AND REFERENCES
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